A leading travel writer is set to appear at an Ullswater book shop. 

Tom Chesshyre is the author of eleven travel books that have taken him from Hull to Tripoli via assignments in North Korea, Nepal, India, the Falkland Islands, St Helena, Colombia and Iceland.

He has contributed to the The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The New European, The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. His magazine work has been for National Geographic Traveller, The Critic, Geographical and Condé Nast Traveller. 

On his travels he has been hijacked in Africa, travelled by cargo ship round the Maldives, met tornado-chasers in America and followed in the footsteps of Graham Greene in Haiti.

His latest book is Lost in the Lakes: Notes from a 379-Mile Walk Around the Lake District in which he travels to Penrith by train and sets forth on a giant loop around the park using the sixteen principal lakes as the focus rather than the ‘Wainwright’ peaks.

The idea is to show a new way around the Lakes that suits the casual rambler while taking in key places such as Keswick, Cockermouth, Coniston, Bowness, Ambleside and Grasmere.

Along the route he talks to scores of people about the Lake District and learns about burning issues regarding second home and holiday homes causing many young locals to move out, the effect of climate change, the impact of Brexit on staffing, and pollution from blue-green algae in some lakes. 

The book is a love letter to the Lakes with stays in bothies, shepherd’s huts and old climbing hotels, enjoying the camaraderie of fellow hikers and plotting a route that often touches on remote places tourists rarely visit, while engaging with the ghosts of the Romantic Poets of old and letting ‘happenchance lead the way’.

This is the Lake District seen from its walking paths – with just a backpack, an open mind… and a spring in the step.

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Owner of Verey Books, Al said: “I love Tom’s book, particularly page 37 which is all about me!

"I hadn’t realised when I first met Tom back in 2022 that he was essentially undercover and collecting data for the carnival of characters that appear in Lost in the Lakes.

"It’s a wonderful book, very inspiring, full of eccentric locals, and a real love letter to the Lakes. We are thrilled to welcome Tom back for our bumper Words on Wednesday season in February.”

Tickets for each event cost £10 and include a welcome drink. To book, visit vereybooks.co.uk. Verey Books is located in Pooley Bridge on the shores of Ullswater.